Matt & Phredâ€™s Jazz Club, Tib Street, Manchester

Located in the bohemian northern quarter of the city Matt & Phred’s is a club that is thriving and bursting with energy reflecting Manchester’s renewed sense of cultural identity. With free entry Monday to Thursday and paid for entry on Friday and Saturday the venue boasts a proper stage and PA; this is all a far cry from some dank corner of a smoky northern pub. Wooden floors, red walls, a high ceiling, plentiful tables and seats, not to mention the big, funky looking bar all help create a vibrant atmosphere. With an impressive range of tasty homemade pizzas and Tapas on offer it’s a complete night out for music fans of all persuasions.

And while the venue caters for the serious music fans, it also offers an alternative music experience to the casual visitor in search of a more enlightening night out. Very much part of Manchester’s resurgent identity post the 1996 IRA bombing of the city center, the club’s attitude and atmosphere are the epitome of urban cool; alongside an open minded attitude to all things music the dress code is fittingly relaxed as well. Bassist Jon Thorne has been a regular at the club since it opened; “I’ve played there with people like Gilad Atzmon, Ed Jones and Damon Brown, Don Weller and Stuart McCullum. Wynton Marsalis came to play with us after his gig at the jazz festival two years ago. We even did a John Ellis Big Band gig there and managed to get about twelve people on stage at once! It’s a good, hip kind of crowd - it’s like a real jazz club; it’s how I imagine it was in times gone by where it was a noisy audience and you had to take them on and dig in and put it across; you can have amazing nights down there where the paint comes off the walls.” A great club keeping contemporary, cool jazz burning hot up north.